5 IPL players who came back strong as replacements after going unsold in the auction

The IPL auction, which is held every year ahead of the tournament has always drawn plenty of attention from fans who closely follow the league. The auctions are often unpredictable, making them fun to watch.

The biggies earn millions in the bidding process, some of the best in-form players fail to find a bidder even at their base price. The reasons may be many - from not fitting in the team combination to non-availability of the player for the full season.

Even after going unsold in the auction, some players find their place in the team in unfortunate injuries to players playing in the league. To fill the vacancies left by the injured players, these players are signed as replacements and play for the various franchises.

Here are gfive such players who went unsold in the auction but came back strong as replacements in the league.

#5 Steve Smith

Then a young and talented batsman from Australia, now skipper Steven Smith went unsold in the IPL auction 2012. Smith was signed by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2010 but he failed to get a game to show his potential. In the following season, he was signed by Kochi Tuskers Kerala but was ruled out of the league owing to an injury.

In the 2012 edition of the IPL, he went unsold after setting his base price at $200,000. He was later roped in by Pune Warriors India as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Marsh.

In the season, Smith scored 362 runs in 15 matches at an average of 40.22 and a strike rate of 135.58. As a result of his performance, he was later retained by the franchise in the following season.